Airplane Accidents and Incidents

News about Airplane Accidents and Incidents, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Oct. 14, 2014

Doug Butzier, a physician who had not drawn significant support, was killed Monday when the plane he was piloting crashed. MORE

Oct. 11, 2014

California officials reactivate state’s 22 firefighting air tankers, days after one of the aircraft crashed in Yosemite National Park, killing pilot. MORE

Oct. 10, 2014

Senior Dutch government official's disclosure that one victim of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 plane crash in eastern Ukraine had been found wearing an oxygen mask leads to dismay among investigators and outrage among victims' relatives. MORE

Oct. 9, 2014

California's fleet of air tankers is temporarily grounded after one of the planes crashes while battling a wildfire in Yosemite National Park, killing the pilot. MORE

Oct. 8, 2014

Air tanker fighting a wildfire near Yosemite National Park in Northern California crashes; there is no immediate word on the state of the plane or the pilot, who was the only person aboard. MORE

Oct. 7, 2014

Three-dimensional maps point to huge scale of task ahead as searchers begin deep-sea hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared March 8; maps are first produced of remote region off Western Australian coast where missing plane is thought to have run out of fuel. MORE

Oct. 3, 2014

Proliferation of unmarked towers used by wind energy companies poses threat to pilots crop-dusting fields and has led to calls for more regulation; at least five people, including three crop-duster pilots, have died after hitting the towers since 2003. MORE

Sep. 28, 2014

Sports photographer Scott Welch's YouTube video of his JetBlue flight filled with smoke goes viral, with mixed reviews; critics are urging armchair videographers like Welch to put down their phones and live in the moment. MORE

Sep. 13, 2014

Two Navy fighter jets crash into the Pacific Ocean; pilot of one of the planes, both F-18 Hornets, is rescued and taken back to the carrier Carl Vinson to receive medical attention; search and rescue teams are still looking for the pilot of the second plane. MORE

Sep. 10, 2014

Investigators release evidence that Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was likely struck by a missile before it disintegrated over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people aboard; preliminary report by Dutch Safety Board, eight weeks after incident, lends indirect support to assertions that plane was shot down by pro-Russian rebels. MORE

Sep. 10, 2014

National Transportation Safety Board inspectors report that crew members of UPS cargo plane trying to land at airport in Birmingham, Ala, omitted several crucial steps that might have prevented 2013 crash; say lack of sleep, confusion about their altitude and relying on inaccurate weather information were factors in crash. MORE

Sep. 10, 2014

National Transportation Safety Board study reports that pilots killed in airplane crashes in 2012 tested positive for drug four times more often than those killled in 1990. MORE

Sep. 7, 2014

Malaysian government plans to send a search team to the Ukrainian crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 to gather physical evidence to prove that the plane was shot down. MORE

Sep. 6, 2014

Small plane crashes off the coast of Jamaica, killing Larry and Jane Glazer, couple headed to Naples, Fla, from Rochester, NY; experts say low oxygen levels may have played a role in crash. MORE

Sep. 4, 2014

European Aviation Safety Agency, in wake of downing of Malaysia Airlines jet over Ukraine in July, urges national governments to share intelligence data with aviation authorities; says greater coordination will better enable international regulators and airlines to assess the risks of flying over conflict zones. MORE

Aug. 29, 2014

Australian officials express new optimism that data from attempt to contact Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that disappeared in Indian Ocean could lead to plane's discovery. MORE

Aug. 29, 2014

Air ambulance carrying a cancer patient to Phoenix crashes shortly after taking off from Las Cruces airport, killing all four people aboard. MORE

Aug. 28, 2014

Experts working to identify the victims of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 say they have positively identified 173 individuals from DNA samples. MORE

Aug. 27, 2014

United Nations helicopter carrying cargo in South Sudan crashes, killing three of its four Russian crew members. MORE

Aug. 21, 2014

Top Guatemala Gen Rudy Ortiz and four other officers are killed in helicopter crash near country's northern border with Mexico. MORE

Aug. 14, 2014

Eduardo Campos, Brazilian presidential candidate and scion of a resurgent political dynasty, dies when his campaign plane crashes in port city of Santos; six others are also killed and event shakes up an increasingly competitive race in Latin America’s largest democracy. MORE

Aug. 13, 2014

Helicopter bringing aid from Iraq's Kurdish government to stranded Yazidis in Sinjar mountain region crashes, killing pilot and injuring other passengers, including a Yazidi member of Parliament and a New York Times journalist. MORE

Aug. 11, 2014

Locally built Iranian passenger plane crashes shortly after takeover in Tehran, killing 39 people and reviving questions about safety of aviation sector left hobbled by international sanctions; plane, which is based on a relatively obscure Ukrainian design, is assembled under license in Iran and has been involved in previous Iranian air disasters. MORE

Aug. 3, 2014

International experts examining crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 find remains of victims overlooked by local emergency personnel who first searched the debris; International monitors estimate that about 80 bodies remain unaccounted for. MORE

Aug. 2, 2014

Dutch and Australian police officers are finally able to spread out over Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crash site in Ukraine; aim of long-delayed joint operation is to salvage all human remains overlooked by local emergency workers and return them to appropriate families. MORE

Aug. 1, 2014

Ukrainian officials suspend offensive operations against rebels in eastern Ukraine to finally allow international monitors to reach crash site of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17; members of Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe are limiting their work to initial reconnaissance and preparing the way for search and recovery work by a larger team MORE

Jul. 30, 2014

Fighting in eastern Ukraine near debris field where Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 was shot down is preventing Dutch and Australian police officers and forensic experts from reaching the area for a third day. MORE

Jul. 29, 2014

International police force attempting to reach wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 confront fierce fighting in a dozen towns in eastern Ukraine and are blocked from reaching crash site, which is now near, or even in middle of, battlefield. MORE

Jul. 28, 2014

Ukrainian military launches operation to recapture debris field of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17, stalling international efforts to secure site; Ukrainian officials say they need control over site to prevent pro-Russian separatists from destroying clues to the downing of flight; Netherlands, whose citizens account for around two-thirds of the crash victims, is leading an international effort to get to the bottom of what happened. MORE

Jul. 27, 2014

United Nations specialists locate second black box of Air Algerie plane that crashed in remote part of Mali, killing all 118 people aboard. MORE

Jul. 27, 2014

Fighting in eastern Ukraine prevents Dutch military police officers from securing crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17; Netherlands, whose citizens accounted for around two-thirds of the crash victims, is leading international effort to determine cause of crash. MORE

Jul. 26, 2014

American and Ukrainian officials say that Russia has moved more of its own troops to its border with Ukraine; reported moves raise prospect of new and more perilous chapter opening in conflict that has already inflamed the region and, with destruction of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, has stunned the world. MORE

Jul. 26, 2014

Detachment of French soldiers reaches crash site of Air Algerie jetliner in Mali; French officials say accident was most likely weather-related. MORE

Jul. 26, 2014

Indian Air Force helicopter explodes and crashes in northern India, possibly after hitting high-voltage electrical cable, killing all seven people aboard. MORE

Jul. 26, 2014

European monitors indicate for first time that credit and debit cards belonging to people who died on Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in Ukraine had been moved inappropriately; movement of cards is latest sign of tampering with wreckage in ways large and small, although pro-Russian militants who control site deny looting has been allowed. MORE

Jul. 26, 2014

FIFA, world governing body of soccer, rejects calls to move 2018 World Cup from Russia, which denies any involvement in Malaysia Airlines disaster. MORE

Jul. 25, 2014

There is no sign of investigation at crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in eastern Ukraine, despite all of the diplomatic frenzy that has followed the downing of the plane; lack of on-the-ground probe is perhaps not surprising given that rural area is essentially no man's land where pro-Russian rebels have declared their own state; American officials say site could hold important clues, but it is not clear whether investigators will be able to come. MORE

Jul. 25, 2014

Officials say wreckage of Air Algerie jetliner has been found in semidesert area in Mali, and there appears to be no survivors of crash; say plane, which took off from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, with 110 passengers and crew of six, likely went down during thunderstorm. MORE

Jul. 24, 2014

Taiwan's Transportation Ministry says TransAsia Airways crash near village Magong killed 47 people and injured 11 others; aircraft was brought down by heavy winds and rain from passing Typhoon Matmo as it was attempting emergency landing. MORE

Jul. 24, 2014

Forensic experts say they expect crash victims of Malaysia Airlines disaster in Ukraine to undergo routine examinations, even if crash itself was anything but; DNA testing and other techniques are to be used to identify dead and determine cause of death; testing could shed light on what exactly happened to jetliner after it was hit by surface-to-air missile. MORE

Jul. 24, 2014

Haris Suleman, Indiana teenager trying to set record for an around-the-world flight, dies in crash over Pacific Ocean; crews are still looking for his father Babar Suleman, who was also on board the single-engine plane. MORE

Jul. 23, 2014

Russian Pres Vladimir V Putin delivers short but wide-ranging foreign policy speech, addressing downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and other issues; pledges to use Russian influence on separatists in eastern Ukraine and to cooperate with investigation, but asserts that Ukraine also must act to reduce tensions. MORE

Jul. 23, 2014

Residents in rural eastern Ukraine are skeptical that separatist rebels had any part in downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, even as international consensus mounts to the contrary; question existence of advanced missile system that many reports placed in area, and express doubt that impoverished, local rebels could have operated a sophisticated piece of military machinery. MORE

Jul. 23, 2014

European Union foreign ministers, gathered in Brussels to address downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, express anger but show little resolve to impose new measures that would further isolate Russia. MORE

Jul. 23, 2014

Bodies and flight recorders recovered from crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 are delivered safely from rebel control to Ukrainian city Kharkiv; forensics officials raise strong possibility that remains of many victims are still buried in wreckage and that identification could take weeks or months to complete. MORE

Jul. 23, 2014

Op-Ed article by philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy questions why West has not done more to hold Russia and Pres Vladimir V Putin to account for actions of Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine, including downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17; contends inaction amounts to appeasement. MORE

Jul. 23, 2014

Exxon Mobil moves forward in its project assisting Russian state energy company Rosneft in exploring Arctic Ocean for oil and natural gas, even as pressure mounts to impose sanctions against Russia after downing of passenger airline in Ukraine. MORE

Jul. 22, 2014

Russia is presenting combination of conciliation and bluster over its handling of downed Malaysia Airlines jet, with Pres Vladimir V Putin seemingly probing for a way out of crisis without appearing to compromise with the West; country faces more Western sanctions; Ukraine rebels release bodies and flight recorders from downed plane. MORE

Jul. 22, 2014

Train bearing the bodies of victims of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 finally begins its long journey to get them out of Ukraine’s war-torn badlands and closer to home; from eastern Ukraine city of Kharkiv, remains will be flown to Amsterdam, and remains of Malaysian citizens will be flown home. MORE

Jul. 22, 2014

Piece of wreckage from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 bears telltale marks of small pieces of high-velocity shrapnel that apparently crippled jet in flight; wreckage suggests that destruction of aircraft was caused by supersonic missile that apparently exploded near the jet as it flew. MORE

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